Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

D el tried to reign in his temper, but he had a good, hard mad going on right now. He couldn't believe how rude his family had been. To him, sure, they treated him like an idiot every day. Nothing new there. But Cassie? She'd been friends with the Jackson family for almost two decades. You didn't treat friends the way his siblings acted toward her back in the tasting room.

They knew his family was going to be shocked, confused, and yes, probably even a bit angry at their secret, but he didn't imagine the emotional explosion they'd just witnessed. He wanted to smack them all upside the head. Especially Charlie. She called herself Cassie's best friend? Ha! Best friends were loyal and supportive. His big sis had demonstrated none of those qualities. Zero, nada, zilch! Del had more female friends than male, and truth be told they weren't exactly friends so much as… friendly . But he knew the first rule of BFF's was to stick by their side, no matter what.

Charlie hadn't even tried to understand, not even for a second. Very soon he was going to have a talk with his older sister on how to treat someone who mattered to you, because judging by her immature display back there, it almost seemed like he was the older sibling.

Cassie's hard, shuddering sigh brought him out of his thoughts. He paused, pulling her to a stop in front of him on the sidewalk.

"Hey." He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, tugging her into his side. "You okay?"

She sniffled and—aw, damn—her deep green eyes were bright and watery.

"She's never been so mad at me. I…I don't think I've ever seen Charlie that mad."

"Then you've never eaten the last chocolate cream-filled éclair when Charlie's Aunt Flow is in town, I guess."

Cassie stared at him with a raised brow. His attempt at a joke fell flat. No surprise, women rarely appreciated period jokes. How many times had his sister told him that? Too many to count and not enough to sink in, apparently. Shit, he sucked at this. He just wanted to take that pain-filled sadness out of Cassie's eyes.

"I'm sorry, Cassie." He pulled her into him and found himself shocked when she placed her head against his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Charlie will get over it. She's just mad because she thinks we hid something big from her."

"But we did! Or we are or…ugh, I don't even know anymore. This is so much more complicated than I first thought."

Yeah, it wasn't looking as simple as it had in his mind. His brain jumped at the solution to his problem, seeing an equal opportunity for Cassie. He hadn't taken into account the other people in his life and how this arrangement would affect them. If he thought Charlie was mad now, he could only imagine how pissed she would be if she found out the whole thing was a sham.

"I don't want to lose my best friend."

The softly spoken fear gutted him. Pulling back, he gazed into her worried face. "We don't have to do this, Cassie. Say the word, and we can go back to the distillery and tell everyone it was a joke or something. I need this money, but not if it's going to cause a fallout between you and my sister. I can find another way." How, he had no idea, but he'd do it.

"No." She shook her head. "We've come this far. There's no sense in going back now. Besides, I still need a husband."

He had no doubt she could find a much better prospect than him with just the wave of her finger. Men were drawn to Cassie like flies to honey. Who wouldn't be attracted to all that smart feisty humor wrapped up in a sexy-as-hell package?

At five foot four, she was the perfect size for a man to tuck up against him. Though she always lamented about losing five pounds, Del found her curves to be womanly and tempting. Made a man get ideas about how soft she'd be as he laid her down on the bed, table, any flat surface. Her dark corkscrew curls bounced with a life of their own. There'd been a time or two—or fifty—over the years when he'd imagined those dark locks moving up and down as she rode him throughout the night.

He shifted as his thoughts brought Little Del to life. Adding an erection to this already complicated situation would be a dumbass move. He did chuckle at the irony of it. How often did a guy have to hide his attraction to his fiancée?

"Come on then, future Mrs. Jackson. Let's blow this place and go do something fun."

Her emerald gaze narrowed, one dark brow rising. "I don't believe we discussed whether or not I was taking your last name."

There was his Sassy Cassie. Good to see she still had her pluck. He winked, tugging her hand up to kiss her knuckles.

"We gonna do this all modern like? I take your name?" He paused as if to think it over. "Delta Brown. I like it. Has a nice ring."

She laughed, the cheerful sound lifting some of the unease inside him.

"You are such an idiot."

"Ooooh, I love it when you talk dirty, sweetheart."

She shoved him playfully but kept hold of his hand as they continued down the sidewalk. He knew it was because people were out and about and they had to keep up pretenses, but damned if some small part of him didn't revel in her touch.

"Since we have the rest of the day ahead of us," he said, "what should we do? Back to your place for wild, engaged monkey sex?"

She laughed, shaking her head at his joke. Half joke. All truth if she'd been willing.

"Honestly, I'm not in the mood for anything."

Needing to make this better, he squeezed her hand. "Don't let my bone-head siblings ruin your day. Or at least, let me make it better."

Suddenly she halted, causing him to stop, too. Turning to face him, she scrunched up her nose in that cute way she had when she was confused. And damn it all to hell, he did not need to be thinking of his fake fiancée as cute.

"Why?" she asked.

"Why what?"

"Why do you want to make my day better?"

"Because that's what people in relationships are supposed to do, right?"

He hadn't been in many—okay, none—but he knew the point of having someone in your life was to make it better.

"Yes, but…" She glanced around, lowering her voice. "We're not in a real relationship."

Minor detail. "We're friends. And friends help each other feel better after bad days."

Cassie stared at him like he had two heads.

"We are friends, right?" He always assumed so, even if he loved to get a rise out of her at every opportunity. That was just the nature of their relationship. Or was he fooling himself? Maybe Cassie never even entertained the idea of friendship when it came to him. Perhaps the woman only saw him as her best friend's annoying little brother. Shit. That would sting.

After what felt like an eternity, Cassie's lips tilted up into a soft smile. "Yeah, I guess we are friends in a way."

In a way. Not a resounding affirmation, but he'd take it.

"Okay then, friend, what would you like to do? What would make you feel better?"

She tilted her head, tucking a wavy lock of hair behind her ear when it fell in her eyes and sucked her plump bottom lip between her teeth. Del held in a groan at the sight. Witnessing the move made his mind float back to a few nights ago and that blazing hot kiss they'd shared in her doorway. Damn, the woman had thrown him for a loop. He'd always suspected Cassie would taste good, but he'd never imagined the fire she held inside.

She released her lip, giving him a small smile. "It's okay, Del. You don't need to cheer me up."

He didn't need to, but oddly enough he found himself wanting to.

"Come on." Gently, he nudged her with his elbow. "We'll do anything you want."

"Anything?"

"Promise."

Her smile widened, a devilish gleam entering her eyes. "You're not going to like it."

Strange to say, he was pretty sure anything that put a smile like that on Cassie's face he'd be more than happy to endure.

"Try me."

"You promise not to bitch and moan about it?"

Slightly wary at her warning but willing to do anything to keep the gut-wrenching tears from filling her eyes again, he held up a hand. "Scout's honor."

She snorted. "You were never a boy scout, Del."

"True. Fine, I swear on Pappy Mel's secret gin recipe that I won't complain. I will follow you wherever you want today and happily participate in anything you choose to do. I'll be the perfect fiancé."

"Fake fiancé." She pointed at him.

He grabbed her finger, kissing the tip, before lowering her hand and ducking his head down to brush against her lips. "Right, fake fiancé."

He spoke the words softly against her mouth. Cassie sucked in a breath, and he took the opportunity to kiss her again, deeper this time. In case anyone was watching. They had to keep up appearances. Yup, nothing more.

Delicate fingers grasped his shirt, twisting the material as she held on, angling her head for a better fit.

Hell yes!

Her tongue swept into his mouth. Hot damn, she tasted so freaking good. A groan escaped him, unable to stop it even if he wanted. At the sound, she pulled back. Disappointed but knowing they needed to get this locked up before things got out of hand, he let her. Her hand flew to her lips. Emerald eyes stared back at him, a host of emotions running through them, confusion, wariness…lust?

"For believability," he explained, motioning to the very real ring on her finger symbolizing the very fake marriage they were about to enter into.

"Um, right." Her eyes darted around, glancing at the people who were in no way paying attention.

"Where are we going? What makes you feel better after a bad day? For me, it's a cold drink and a hot woman." He gave her a wink, looking her up and down. "Looks like I'm halfway there."

Shaking her head, she laughed. "Nice try, but no. When I'm feeling bad, I treat myself to something special and indulgent."

"Oh yeah?" His ears perked up. He could think of all kinds of indulgent things he'd like to do with Cassie. First and foremost being finish that hotter-than-sin kiss they just shared.

"Yup," she said with a wicked grin. "Follow me."

Curious, and having no other option, he quickly followed.

"You gonna tell me where we're going?"

Tossing him a saucy glance over her shoulder, she gave him a wink of her own and uttered the two most terrifying words any man could ever hear. "Spa Day!"